RESULTS: Supervisors' assessments of trainee trustworthiness for independent clinical work involved consideration of four dimensions: knowledge/skill, discernment of limitations, truthfulness, and conscientiousness. Supervisors' reliance on language cues as a source of trustworthiness data was revealed.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an initial exploration of context-specific competence assessments, which affect both patient safety and education, and provides a novel framework for study of the links between language use and competence.